When the question arises “who qualifies for life insurance” the answer should always be not only the person who takes out the policy, but also the person or people who stand to benefit from the policy when the policy holder passes away. When you think about it, taking out life insurance is the most noble of acts. Simply because the policy holder is making a financial sacrifice in this lifetime so that the people they care about will be better off economically after they have gone.
The very concept of insuring your life so that other may benefit in actual fact leads to a situation where a group of people will take out life insurance cover to protect each other in time of death. For example partners in life will take out life insurance cover to protect one another in the event of death, especially if that death is premature. In a partnership both partners should be insured, as if one passes the policy cannot be transferred to the other.
This can mean that if the partner has no life insurance when they pass on, the partner will be left alone and without the financial benefits of the policy payouts. They may be holding a policy of their own, but find themselves in dire financial straits as the partnership has suffered from the loss of income of one of the partners. This can be especially traumatic if there are young children around who need to be clothed, fed and educated.
In the world of business and the professions it is far from unusual for partners in a business to mutually take out life insurance policies, with the surviving partners being the sole beneficiaries. The passing of a partner in a business or in a professional practice such as a lawyer, accountant or even an insurance brokerage can be a traumatic experience, with serious long term effects.
So when the question arises “who qualifies for life insurance” the answer should be “anyone who takes their life and the well being of their family, their colleagues and even their friends seriously.”
If you think that you fall into that category, and still don’t have any life insurance, you should take whatever steps necessary to rectify the situation.
Approach your insurance broker as soon as is possible in order to set the wheels in motion. Your broker will arrange for any physical examinations that you will need to go through, as the company who will be issuing the policy will demand this.
Assuming that everything is in working order for you health wise. It only remains for you to sit with your broker and decide how much you can afford to pay monthly and how long you want the policy to run. With these figures in hand, your broker will be able to provide you with a fairly firm estimate of how much your policy will pay out once you have passed on.
All that remains is to name the benefactor or benefactors of your policy, and you can sign away knowing that you are helping to protect the ones you love when you are gone.
